The Lower Ormeau Concerned Community (LOCC) has welcomed the Parades Commission's decision to re-route an Apprentice Boys' march, scheduled for 7 November, away from the Lower Ormeau Road.
Spokesperson Gerard Rice said that many people from the area and beyond had been in touch to express their relief at the determination.
“Parades by the Apprentice Boys and the other Loyal Orders have been re-routed away from the area for over twenty-five years," he said, "we made it very clear to the Parades Commission and the Apprentice Boys that there would be ‘No Going Back’ to the bad old days, when residents were hemmed into their homes to accommodate loyal order parades."
Mr Rice said these parades "were often accompanied by sectarian abuse directed at residents by the marchers and their bands."
Referring to recent events at Drumcree, he said that there was a "natural concern" amongst residents that the Parades Commission "might get it wrong."
"We made a strong case for the parade on 7 November to be re-routed," he continued.
“LOCC has offered the Loyal Orders a perfectly viable alternative route for their Ormeau Road parades, crossing the Ormeau Bridge and proceeding via the Stranmillis Embankment and the Holyland area."
Mr Rice said "that option still exists" and that it would "minimise disruption and policing, taking the parade away from sensitive sites such as the loyalist murders of five local people at Sean Graham’s Bookmakers."
"The Apprentice Boys consistently refuse to accept this reasonable alternative and this naturally creates a perception among local residents that a parade has no value to the loyal orders unless it gives the opportunity to taunt and antagonise local residents.”
Gerard concluded “We hope that today’s decision will be maintained through the year ahead so that our community can get on with their lives without the constant fear of sectarian harassment hanging over them.”
